The Coming Storm

By Josh, the 8th Grader

A High Wind and Rain storm is coming to our area. Last year when this happened, our power got knocked out for 6 days! It's going to be starting this morning. We think it will go until noon tomorrow. I'm just hoping it doesn't knock out our power as long as the last one did! But, if it is as long as the last one was, we're more prepared! Instead of having to look around the house to find flashlights, we have 5 right next to the table! The one thing I'm wondering is if it will be as violent as the last one. The last one literally took a few of the tiles off of someones' roof! We saw it happen given that we could watch through the glass on the back door. There is still a silver patch where it happened! Now, don't worry that the storm got inside their house. There is wood under the tiles. But still, who knows how violent it will be?

How to Get "Millionaire" in Khan Academy

By Josh, the 8th Grader

Picture found here
I've been on Khan Academy for 3 years, and in that time I've racked up 2,785,030 Energy Points. I know that some of you who are reading this are wanting to know how to meet the requirements of 1,000,000 Energy Points, so I am going to give you some of the main ways I get Energy Points!

Speed Badges
This one is one of my main ways because for each topic that you do 75 fast problems, you get about 10,000 Energy Points! You also get 4 Meteorite Badges, 2-3 Moon Badges (depends if you already have Geek of the week: practice) and 2 Earth Badges!

Master Skills
Even if they're problems before/after your grade, go for them because if you reach 500 mastered then you get 748,100 Energy Points in badges ALONE!

Watch Videos
The videos are 850 Energy Points a piece. You can listen to them while you're doing other things on your computer, and they are a good source of badges if you want more.

Apple Tasting

By Joshua, Grade 8

Mom got 9 types of apples at the store the other day and we had all of them! I ranked them by how much I liked them.

9. Red Delicious
This one was my least favorite because it is BLAND! It is juicy and crunchy. The juice is tasteless.

8. Fuji
This one doesn't have flavor..... until the aftertaste! The aftertaste is sour.

7. Granny Smith
As soon as you bite into it you get an overpowering flavor of sour! If you like sour more then I do then it might be in a different place.

6. Golden Delicious
The sour/soft combination works well!

5. Jonagold
This is a good type of complex in both flavor and texture!

4. Jazz
This is the best tart apple of the entire bunch!

3. Pink Lady
This apple has an average apple taste with a hint of sweetness!

2. Honeycrisp
This apple would be my #1 if it were just a bit less sweet! This is SWEET!

1. Gala
This apple has the perfect amount of sweetness and the texture is the perfect softness!

Our Chickens

By Jeremiah the fifth grader

It's been a while since we showed you our Chickens so here they are. That is a Rhodebar aka ''Big Red'' in the middle, a Buckeye aka "Buckey" on the left, and a Partridge Rock on the right.

So that's what the girls look like, and if you were wondering we've had two coops so far the first one I don't have a picture of but I do have a picture of number two and here it is:

Well that's what our girls and they're snug little coop look like. (The sign on the coop says Happy Hens Live Here).

Khan Academy

By Jeremiah the sixth grader

Khan Academy Is a educational website if you use it the right way. There are multiple uses for it. They've got math from Kindergarten to 8th and up, Science & Engineering, Computing, Art & Humanities, Economics & Finance, Test prep, & Collage Admissions! Finally the avatars. You start out with the leafs and little seed things. I think the easiest  set to get is the Aqualine in order all you have to do is complete your first task, Master your first math skill,  Master three skills in math, Master ten skills in math, and Master twenty skills in math. When you get 10,000 points you unlock seedlings and a bunch of others. At 50,000 points you unlock saplings and more. At 100,000 points you unlock trees and more. At 250,000 you unlock Ultimates and epics.  

Michael Vey

By Jeremiah the 6th grader

Currently there are 6 books in the Michael Vey series. Michael Vey Prisoner of Cell 25, Michael Vey Rise of the Elgen, Michael Vey Battle of the AMPERE, Michael Vey, Hunt for Jade Dragon, Michael Vey Storm of Lightning:

 

and now Michael Vey Fall of Hades:

Coincidentally Storm of Lightning came out on my birthday last year! This year Fall of Hades came out two days before my birthday! I think this is my favorite book series so far and I'm so excited to read book 6!

Our first week of school

By Jeremiah the sixth grader

We just started school on Monday and this is a quick summary of what happened.
Today is our first day this year babysitting. In math I'm learning about averages and percentages. In language I'm learning about prefixes and suffixes. In History I'm learning about what happened on this earth before we got here and messed it all up! (toxic waste) In Science I'm learning about the body. I'm getting better at cursive.

Tomorrow is my Brother's B-Day Party!

By Josh, The 8th Grader

Tomorrow is Jeremiah's Nerf Themed Birthday Party and I'm excited! Why am I excited? Because I get to be the piñata! No, they will not be hitting me with sticks until I explode (piñatas, I feel sympathetic for you!). I will be running around the backyard with everybody chasing after me with Nerf guns and every time I get shot I throw candy at them (Mom says no Mega Guns for shooting me. Thank you very much Mom!) I will get to prove my athleticism over ALL OF THEM. Also, Jeremiah will open his GIANT present from me that day! It's approximately 3/4 of his size. Did I measure? No. Anyway, back to the party. There will be 6 kinds of targets (not including me), cake, cupcakes and ice cream!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Book Report

By Jeremiah the fifth grader
"Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" is a book about a boy (this boy liked Chocolate a LOT, this matters) and his Grandpa Joe ( from his dad's side of the family and this does not matter) going on a adventure through Willy Wonka's factory. He is not the only one invited, he is with Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, and Mike Teavee. My favorite part was the glass elevator. I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes candy, books, and humor.

Tomorrow is My Brother's Birthday Party!

By Jeremiah the fifth grader

As I said in the title, tomorrow is my brother's birthday party, and I am so excited! We have a LOT to do to prepare for the party! We have to make, bake, and decorate the cake, we have to clean, and we have to put up the decorations. We are are planing on doing some Super Smash Brothers, then after some of that, cake,and ice-cream, presents, then more Super Smash Brothers!

What Happened on My 12th Birthday

By Josh

Hello! You are currently looking at text that was written by a brand new 12 year old! As the title states, this blog post is about what happened on my birthday. If you didn't see the title then now you know. Here is what happened:
AM
5:45: I wake up
6:45: I fall back asleep
7:30: I am re-awoken by my family coming in singing "Happy Birthday To You". Dad is holding homemade Maple and Chocolate (not Maple-Chocolate. Half of them are Maple and half of them are Chocolate) donuts that are shaped to spell "HAPPY 12th B-DAY JOSHUA" (now the donuts spell "H 2 B JOUA")
8:00: Dad goes to work
8:15: Jeremiah brings in a piece of paper and an envelope. He asks me "Present or Cursive first?" I say "Cursive" and he hands me the piece of paper. It reads "Happy Birthday Bro!" in cursive. Next, he hands me the envelope. I open the envelope and it has a card inside. The card has about 5 different pictures of Yoshi on it. Inside it says "I'm going to get you the Bayonetta and Clock Tower Smash Bros. DLC!" (We don't play Bayonetta games. He just got it because it is the newest SSB DLC)
8:30: We start playing with the new DLC Jeremiah got me.
10:15: We start getting ready to go
10:16: Nathaniel starts being a pain
10:45: Dad gets home
11:30: We get going to go find 4 Geocaches and then place our cache
11:45: We get out to find Geocache #1 of the day
11;50: We find it
11:52: We get back in car to go to Geocache #2
PM
12:01: We reach what we thought was going to be Geocache #2 until we find out it's in a parking garage
12:04: We reach a different Geocache #2
12:22: We find it
12:24: We get going to Nicks Jr. for lunch
12:50: We get going to Geocache #3
12:54: We reach Geocache #3
12:55: We find Geocache #3
12:57: We get going to Geocache #4
1:00: We reach Geocache #4
1:04: We find Geocache #4
1:06: We go home
1:21: We get home
1:45: Nathaniel takes a nap
2:00: Jeremiah and I are allowed to play for another hour
3:10: I open the other presents and get this list: $40, A game called Ivan's Hinge, A math coloring book, and a Playstation Plus 1 Year Membership
3:30: We get done with the PS Plus stuff and Dad teaching me about it
3:45: We start looking for a place to hide our Geocache
4:00: We find the perfect place
4:45: We finish posting our Geocache
5:15: I start reading in my room
6:30: I have dinner
6:45: I go to my youth group
8:00: I have a cupcake
8:35: I go home
8:55:We read
9:15: I talk with Mom
10:00: I go to bed
This concludes my birthday. I had a good time. I hope you enjoyed the blog post. The Cache we made is this.

My Favorite Under 5 Minute Timed Game

By Josh

This is easily my favorite game that I have done on Chess.com. The fact that we managed to get this done in a 3 minute timer is still blowing my mind today! Here is the game. (I played mathkid1)

mathkid1 (1292) vs. Baba_Gana (1124)

1. e4, e5 2. Nf3, Nc6 3. Nc3, Nf6 4. Bc4, Be7 5. d3 0-0 6. 0-0, Re8 7. d4, Na5 8. dxe5, Nxc4 9. exf6, Bxf6 10. Bf4, d6

10... Nxb2 would have been much better

11. b3 (I remember saying "DIE KNIGHT!" after this, but now I realize 11... Bxc3.) 11... Nb6 12. Qd2, Bg4 13. Rae1, Bxf3 14. gxf3, Be5 15. Bxe5, Rxe5 16. Nd5, Nxd5 17. exd5, Qg5+ 18. Kh1, Rxd5 19. Qxg5, Rxg5 20. Re2, h6

Saving the isolated King

21. Rfe1, Kh7 22. Re8, Rxe8 23. Rxe8, Rd5 24. Re7, Rd1+ 25. Kg2, Rc1 26. Rxc7, Re1 27. Rxb7, Re2 28. Rxa7, Rxc2 29. Rxf7, Rxa2 30. Rd7, Rb2

Starting here we are in time-trouble

31. Rxd6, Rxb3 32. Rd2, Rb7 33. Kg3, Rf7 34. f4, g6 35. Kg4, h5+ 36. Kg5, Rg4 37. Kh4, Rxf4+ 38. Kg3, h4+ 39. Kg2, Rg4+ 40. Kh3, Rf4

I am getting in some trouble here

41. Kg2, g5 42. Rd7+, Kg6 43. f3, Kf5 44. h3, Rf8 45. Rh7+, Kg6 46. Re7, Kf6 47. Ra7, Rf7 48. Ra6+ Kf5 49 Ra5+, Kf4 50. Ra4+, Kf5

Hoping to win on time here

51. Ra2, Kg6 52. Ra3 Kf5 53. Rb3, Ke6 54. Rb4, Rf5 55. Re4+, Kf6 56. Rc4, Re5 57. Rc6+, Re6 58. Rxe6+, Kxe6 59. Kf2, Kd5 60. Ke3, Kc4

This move just decided the whole game

61. f4, Kc3 62. fxg5, Kc2 63. Kf4, Kb2 64. Kg4, Kc2 65. Kxh4 BLACK RUNS OUT OF TIME

I had it in the bag here

That's it, everybody! My favorite super-fast game. I hope you enjoyed it!

Chickens Are Awesome!

By Jeremiah the fifth grader

Whenever you need company, and they are okay with it you can catch one and pet it! When mom boots us outside, sometimes we catch one(, or two ), hold it, and pet it. Once you buy them and raise them ( I'd suggest you get three or  more, because just like you chickens can get lonely too, and you can buy them almost all the way grown!) you get free eggs until they stop laying! We have three chickens and we're taking in about two eggs per day! Chickens are SO much fun to give treats to! I was thinking about making a "For-the-birds Feeder"from the ''Cheerio Cookbook'' but instead of putting birdseed, putting some chicken treat mix on it. Chickens are awesome, and if you want to try it out for yourself, you can, if its legal where you live!

Lego Dimensions Is Awesome!

By Jeremiah the fifth grader
Lego Dimensions is awesome we have a bunch of characters and I mean a BUNCH of characters, and here I'll  put a picture of the base:

these are all of the people, and when they come out

If you have played portal 2: 

there is a LOT of stuff you need the portal 2 pack for! I just bought the Scooby-Doo and Shaggy team pack and it is quite useful, and I mean it! What I think the pack that is most useful would have to be the wonder woman fun pack! I am going to list off all of the characters that are out right now Batman Gandalf, andWyldstyle come in the starter pack Marty Mcfly (BttF) Chell (portal 2) Homer (simsons) Owen (jurassic) ACU Trooper (jurassic) Scooby-doo (Scooby) shaggy ( Scooby) wonder woman (DC) Cyborg (DC) Emmet (Lego movie) Bad Cop (Lego movie) benny (Lego movie) Jay (ninjago) nya (ninjago) zane (ninjago) gollum (LotR) legolas (LotR) gimly (LotR) laval (Chima) Cragger (Chima) Eris (Chima) Wicked Witch (Oz) The docter (Dr. who) cole (ninjago) Kai (ninjago) bart (simsons) Krusty (simsons) unikitty (Lego movie)

Tips for Minecraft Combat

By Josh

Hi! I am here writing this blog post about Minecraft Combat (hence the title) and I am just trying to use them well. I hope these tips help up your combat. There is one thing that you need to do to help, PRACTICE! These tips will only help you a little if you don't try them out! Here they are.

SWORD COMBAT

PVP

• Try to sneak up on people, there are plenty of ways, but you just need to choose one
• Try to get free hits in, as they will set your opponent lower then you, and you will have a higher chance of winning. Jumping works miracles at doing this.
• In a rough map, platforming is key. You don't want to take fall damage where your opponent did!

MONSTER HUNTING

• Yet again, stealth works well.
• Try to run circles around monsters (besides Endermen or Creepers) and hit them while they can't hit you
• Don't get stuck in water (except if you're fighting Endermen, in that case you DO want to be in water) while they're out of it. this creates problems where there weren't any.

AXE COMBAT

See SWORD COMBAT

SHOVEL COMBAT

See SWORD COMBAT

HOE COMBAT

See SWORD COMBAT

BOW COMBAT

PVP

• Snipe from high up
• Try to shoot fully charged shots FAST
• Don't shoot at any angle higher then 45 degrees

MONSTER HUNTING

• Snipe from at least 32 blocks away
• Try to shoot fully charged shots FAST
• Don't shoot at any angle higher then 45 degrees
• Don't shoot Endermen

Grammy and Papa are comin' to town

By Josh

Hi! How is everybody? (Please don't try to yell through the screen. I tried it and it never works. Unless you want to get annoyed neighbors which is nice!) So, later today (around 6-ish) our Grammy and Papa are going to arrive and stay here for 1 1/2 weeks (exactly)! Grammy has cancer so this is going to be (unless a miracle happens) the last time we see her (in person). I'm hoping that this will be a fun time even with everything that is going on. We don't have many (not nothing, we do have a few) plans. So, I will try to be as positive as I possibly can while they are here. I hope everybody will also have a good week (and a half (-:)! Blog Post end.

12th Birthday: Coming Soon to Me

By Josh

Hello! As you heard from the title, my birthday is coming soon! Feb. 24 is when my age goes from 11 to 12! The one thing I can never do is to be awake the minute that I was born (4:27 AM). I have never gotten even REMOTELY close (Curse you sleepiness!)! My party will be on the 27th and will be Super Smash Brothers themed! We will be doing it rather small because next year will be a big year. I will be looking forward to it until it happens. I hope you have enjoyed this blog post!

Calvin and Hobbes

By Jeremiah the fifth grader

"Calvin and Hobbes" is a old school comic strip. They took a bunch of them, and made them into books. We just got a new one, it's called: "Something Under the Bed is Drooling." If you go to a local thrift store, and go to the humor section of the book part of the store enough, odds are you are going find quite a few of them (we go to the Value Village near us).  We have quite the collection of Calvin and Hobbes books. I'm going list off all of our books. We  have: "Calvin and Hobbes," the "Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book," "Yukon Ho!," "The Essential Calvin and Hobbes," "The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes," "Weirdos From Another Planet!," "There's Treasure Everywhere," and "The Indispensable Calvin and Hobbes."

Josh's Birthday is Coming Soon!

By Jeremiah the fifth grader

Josh's Birthday is coming soon, and I don't know what to get him! Josh says he feels good about his Birthday, but I'm excited! For Josh's party we are going to do a Super Smash Brothers (SSB) party!

We are going to have cake, ice cream, playing Super Smash Brothers, trampoline bouncing, presents and last but not least... FUN! 

My Favorite Chess Game

By Josh

Hi everybody! Of all my 250+ games on ChessKid I (barely) chose a favorite. I am not bragging. Here is the game:

5picklefamily (758) vs ShallowLadybug (922)

1. e4, c5 2. Nc3, e6 3. Nf3, Nc6

                                                I was a bit confused by that opening.

4. Bd3, Nf6 5. 0-0, Be7 6. b3,  d5

Black hurrying to open

7. exd5, exd5 8. Ba3, Ng4 9. h3, Nf6

Running from 10. hxg4

10. Na4, b6 11. c4, b5 12. cxb5, Nb4

Trying to save c5

13. Be2, d4 14. Qc1, d3 15. Bd1, Bf5

15. ... Qa5 would have been better

16. Nxc5, Bxc5 17. Qxc5, Bxh3 18 gxh3, Nc2

Black is hoping to get the rook

19. Bxc2, dxc2 20 Qxc2, Rc2 21 Qf5, g6 22. Qe2+,  Kd7 23. Qd6+ BLACK RESIGNS

Black resigned here

(Black foresaw 23. ...Ke8(forced) 24. Re1+, Ne4 25. Rxe4+, Qe7(forced) 26. Qxe7# 1-0)

I hope you guys liked that game!

A wrinkle in time book review

By Jeremiah the fith grader

It is a good idea to read this book but it is a very awkward book all the same. It's sad in some places, it's really weird in some places, it's funny in some places and some character's are mad, sad, funny, or just plain old weird. The story is about two members of a family and a friend setting off on a adventure to find and get back the family's dad/husband. Honestly my favorite part is the end because everyone gets so excited

I'm Excited for our Trip to California!

By Jeremiah the fifth grader

In a few weeks we are going to California and I'm so excited because that's where our (and when I say our and us I mean my brothers and I) grandparents from our mothers side live! Our cousins from our mothers side are coming as well, however the holiday that we are actually going there for is thanksgiving!

Helpful Beginning Chess

By Josh

There are a lot of beginning Chess positions so there are some popular ones that are all topped by this:

Now, this one can be rather confusing BUT there is a way to get a free piece EARLY thanks to this! Just watch this...

Look at that! A free pawn.

This next position is the best if you want a good start is this
                                     
This CAN be countered, only if you are having a very off game!

This is the usual thing that I do

Doing this is a very good idea because it does a good job of opening the center!

I hope you use these in the future to see how good they make your games!

Tips for Becoming a Pro at Splatoon

By Josh

(link found here)

Hi everyone! I know we all want our Splatoon profiles to look like that pic up above this.
That is not me. That is somebody who is Japanese. I'm just gonna give you some tips on how to become SOMETHING like that. So here we go!

TURF WARS

BEST WEAPON: NONE

• Get as far as you can past the middle
• Try to play it safe so you can use your special attack over and over again
• Try to get a good position on the board if you are a sniper
• If you're a roller try to get as close to people without being seen, the shadows are your friends.

ZONE CONTROL

BEST WEAPON: ANY SNIPER

• Try to keep in the middle of the zone so anyone who gets too close is destroyed
• The best super to use here is Inkstrike so you can get the zone back in a flash
• Use bombs often

TOWER CONTROL

BEST WEAPON: ANY ROLLER

• Try to get to the tower as fast as you can
• If they get there before your team get on and get them as soon as you can which is why you have the roller
• Stay as a squid if you are on the tower so they don't know what part to aim for
• You guys should have a person out front to take out people who desire the tower

RAINMAKER

BEST WEAPON: ANY SPLATTERSHOT

• Try to take out the shield because at least 2 people are splatted BECAUSE of that
• Send a scout ahead of the person with the Rainmaker to make sure the coast is clear
• If the opposing team has it then hide in ink until said person is near and unload on him/her

Our Dart and Ball Guns!

By Jeremiah the fifth grader

These are our guns  

So who wants to battle us hmm? End of blog post did you hear me, did you hear me, DID YOU HEAR ME, DID YOU HEAR ME, HUH, HUH! GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, I KNOW IT'S BEEN FUN AND ALL BUT PLEASE GET OFF THIS BLOG POST!!!
(sighs deeply) Anyway does anybody have any questions, then you can email me. Just asking, when are you going to stop reading?